Hate Speech

            
             Hate speech is an individual's expression towards something that the person opposes. Hate speech can also be used as a tool for protest. A speech code is a set of rules protecting people from harassment or discrimination. Speech codes have been written on some college campuses to protect minorities and to induce order in an academic environment. Although a speech code protects people, it is a violation to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution that grants the freedom of speech, and therefore must not be written. Since the main principle of the First Amendment applies directly to public institutions, it has been hard for many universities to pass speech codes and still remain constitutional. .
             Doug Hann, a football player at Brown University, was expelled for violating the university's code of conduct. Hann had a previous incident where he had been drinking and racially insulted another student, and two years later, he found himself on the verge of being expelled. This time, Hann had been drinking again and was in the university courtyard where he insulted and verbally harassed others. In an article entitled "Should This Student Have Been Expelled?- author Nat Hentoff discusses the reasoning for his expulsion and also explores the controversy between free speech and hate speech. I feel that this student should not have been expelled because the most speech codes are too general. Doug Hann may not know what is acceptable and his personal views may clash with others, but who is to say that Hann is wrong? .
             "Offense III [of the Brown code] "which deals with harassment "prohibits inappropriate, abusive, threatening, or demeaning actions based on race, religion, gender, .
             handicap, ethnicity, national origin, or sexual orientation- (Hentoff 341). Without proper explanation, an individual's own values and beliefs may differ and he or she may not know the exact definition of inappropriate', threatening', or demeaning'.